บท 12: Chapter 012

The sun was rising, and Usopp was fidgeting in anticipation of the coming conflict. There were two slopes that led up to the village from opposite ends of the island, and Zoro had suggested that they split into two pairs to cover both sides. Luffy and Usopp covered the coast where they had eavesdropped in on Klahadore (or rather, Captain Kuro, Usopp reminded himself), while Zoro and Nami covered the opposite side. Usopp had asked how they would signal each other when one group engaged the pirates, and Luffy cryptically stated that he and Zoro had it covered.

As the sun completed its ascension above the horizon, Usopp wondered how much longer they should wait. Suddenly, Luffy's head perked up. "They're here. They're coming from the other side." Usopp's eyes widened.

"How do you know?" he asked skeptically.

"Zoro signaled me," Luffy replied. He grabbed Usopp's arm. "Hang on. It's gonna be a rough ride."

He then used his legs to launch them both high into the air, and started using Geppo to get them to the other side quickly. Zoro had been suppressing his aura enough that Luffy hadn't been able to sense it from across the island, until it had suddenly erupted from his location once again. That was their signal. It was simple yet effective, and no one other than the two of them could interpret it.

Usopp eyes would have widened comically if they weren't shut tightly in response to the wind rushing at their faces. Ok, this was ridiculous. He had overheard that Luffy had eaten a Devil Fruit and was a rubber man. To his credit, he had only blinked when he heard that. But that didn't explain why Luffy could fly. Was he even human? It was about a 6 km stretch between the two coasts, and he crossed it in less than a minute. Usopp was a good runner, but it would have taken him at least 10 minutes to go that distance.

Zoro took notice of them as they touched down on the slope leading down to the north shore. Nami spotted them and frowned in curiosity. Zoro had said he was signaling Luffy a minute ago. How did they get here so fast?

It wasn't long before a large ship with the mark of the Black Cat Pirates pulled onto the shore, and the roar of pirates itching to pillage the village became discernable. They rushed off of the ship and flooded onto the path, running up the hill before stopping when the unexpected sight of their opposition reached their eyes. They looked at each other in confusion, having been told that no one would be expecting them. "Hey, Jango!" one of them shouted back to the ship. "There are a bunch of teenagers in the way! I thought this was supposed to be a surprise attack!"

Jango looked a little confused as well, but shouted back, "Does it matter? If they're in the way, just kill them! We're in a rush, Captain Kuro told us to meet him by morning!" Before the pirate that had given his report could turn back to address the four of them, he felt a painful sting in his back and fell over onto the ground. The other pirates traced the path of the projectile back to one of the teenagers, who had a small green slingshot raised. They scowled, having been robbed of first blood. Zoro grinned in approval. First to hit wins. Usopp's legs trembled as the pirates charged in on him. He shot a few more pellets out, each of them hitting their target as he backed away. He would lose control of the fight once they got to him.

Unfortunately his shots weren't lethal, and once the fallen pirates got past their pain, they got up and continued their charge with renewed vigor. They eventually reached him, and blades surrounded him as he rushed to reload another pellet. He wasn't going to make it. He flinched as the swords bore down on him.

The blades were halted mid-swing, however, and Usopp looked up to see several pirates desperately pushing against a single sword with all their might. Usopp watched his savior with awe as the swordsman held back the blades that he had intercepted with deadly precision without budging an inch. He pushed them off balance with a quick swipe of his weapon and began cutting them down one by one with cold efficiency. Not a single blade reached him. The pirates chose to ignore Usopp for now and swarm the swordsman like wasps. Usopp began to worry as Zoro was surrounded, but he promptly spun around and swung his sword in a circular circumference. The pirates were blown away by the wind produced by the swing, and the rock walls surrounding the path abruptly stopped some of them. But as even the ones who didn't hit the walls failed to get back up, Usopp realized there was more to it. They all had deep gashes where the wind had hit them. Had he just cut them from a distance?

Usopp watched in fascination, and even Nami looked up from the pirate she was redundantly bludgeoning into the ground with her staff. The pirates stopped charging, now wary of the foe that had already taken down a fourth of their members. They quickly realized that it was suicide to take him on close range. The majority of the pirates cursed their lack of funds as a select few pulled out pistols and started shooting at Zoro. The swordsman almost looked insulted, and Usopp's eyes bulged out as he gracefully deflected their fire. Nami also looked on with an awestruck impression. He wasn't lining his swords up with the gun barrels to block their aim. He was reacting to the projectiles after they were fired. She wouldn't have guessed that such a feat was possible.

Usopp turned to Luffy with and shouted over the gunshots. "He can deflect gunfire!?"

Luffy smirked. "Is that what it looks like?" Usopp turned back and his eyes widened further as he saw what Luffy was implying. Zoro wasn't deflecting the bullets. He was cutting them in half.

The pirates finally ran out of ammo and Zoro grinned mockingly. "You done yet?" They looked at him in fury with a hint of fear, and charged again. The pirate leading the charge leapt at him with a giant hammer, intent on smashing his precious sword. The stone hammer was cut down the middle, the two halves falling off of the stick to which it had been attached. Its wielder backed up in fear, but the pirates behind him were still charging. Zoro raised his blade into a horizontal ready position as if he was about to swat them all away from a distance, when a voice behind made him stop and duck.

"Gomu Gomu no…Whip!" Luffy's leg blurred from sight and the charging pirates were all swept off their feet and knocked into the solid wall of rock. "Don't hog all the fun, Zoro," Luffy pouted.

"You could have jumped in at any time," he replied.

Jango was getting frustrated. Half of their crew had been taken out now. He got out his hypnotic ring and turned towards their remaining forces, which were visibly cowering. "Failure is not an option, you dipshits!" he shouted. "When I say 1, 2, Jango, your cowardice will disappear and you will become stronger. 1…2…Jango!"

The men's eyes hardened and their muscles bulged. As if they had completely forgotten the slaughter that had just occurred, they let out a battle cry and charged forward with their fists in the air, "Aaaaaauuuugggghhhh!"

Luffy grinned and threw his fists above his head as he dashed forward, yelling, "Aaaaauuuuggghh!" in mocking imitation. The pirates were not deterred at all under their hypnotic influence. "Gomu Gomu no…" Luffy's fists seemed to multiply for a second before they blurred out of sight, much like his leg earlier. "Gatling!" The Black Cat Pirates, for all their miraculous mental steroids, dropped like flies as they were mowed down by the invisible assault.

Jango cringed. If this kept up, Kuro would have their heads. "Sham! Buchi! Come show these fools what happens to those who mess with the Black Cat Pirates!" Two more pirates jumped down from the ship. One was slim and one…not so slim. It was clear that both took the cat thing way too far, though. They looked at Zoro fearfully, then turned back to Jango, and fell to their knees groveling.